Conversations, fishes and pineapples

No, not a post about a dinner date.

But before I go on, here's a thought for an easy tropical dish.
Fish (something easy like sole or snapper), rubbed with some chilli or curry powder, a dash of salt, some ummm dill? Wrapped in banana leaves and skewered through with a toothpick
Chopped pineapples, tomatoes, cucumber, apples, raisins and mangoes in a sweet-tangy salsa
White rice
Butter-fried mushrooms

Bake fish in oven at... umm ... whichever the Joy of Cooking suggests.

I've got two crafty piccies for this post. The first is a crochet finish.... I know, it looks like crap around the edges, because I hadn't starched or ironed it yet, but it's a pineapple doiley for my aunt in Penang. My grandma will get it starched and stretched out (I adore my Gran, she's so clued in about everything even at 85 years old) for me, because she had to bring it back with her. I used DMC Traditions, which offers a decent sized ball of stuff at about RM11.

After this, no more crochet for me for a few months... it takes up too much time, though is rather fun. I have loads of 25 count evenweave, bought for hardanger and I want to get some nice colourful mats out.

The other is a start (needed a start like a hole in the head but I've been wanting to do this piece for soooo long)... HAED (yup, might as well make a dent in my HAED stash if I want to buy anymore or BF is going to start labelling me names again!). I can't buy 300 charts though would like to (like Sharon in Oz hehehehehehe) as am wanting to start a family and buy a house and settle down.

I love James Chistensen's work, especially those which are so intensely coloured. Got this chart Conversation Around Fish about six months back and every so often I take it out and "Read" the chart. Couldn't stand it anymore and bought myself a fat half of Annabelle and kitted it out. After enquiring about fast t racking a WIP on the HAED BB, decided to do tent stitches.

.. and holy cow! What a great idea! Using 2 threads instead of one, and spending five days gridding (takes time as I work a lot), I packed in 2400 stitches over the course of a weekend... and the weekend's not over yet. On my SPML, which I also love, I couldn't even manage that progress for 2 weeks *sigh* So far, this is the top left, with some orange fruit trees or something. The light green is the beginning of the plump girl fairy's wing... yay!!!

Seeing the progress does make me wonder whether I should frog the 300 stitches I did on 25ct (Pirate and Mermaid) and just tent it, saving myself a lot of time.

There are some spots where you can see the fabric behind, but I think once washed and ironed, that should take care of it.. 28 count can be fairly snug. I'm enjoying this one quite a bit!

Think I'll take a break tonight and try to sketch Novia's mermaid...